


sometimes life slips in through a back door

by muslimsmoak



Series: "dc stop being cowards and let them meet challenge" the hugo award winning series [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: 2x09-esque part 2 coming soon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And Dick decides to be a, Arrow Rewrite, Barbara Gordon mentioned - Freeform, Basically it's a Dick Grayson meets Team Arrow, Episode: s02e08 The Scientist, F/M, I'm thinking of a sequel fic where they meet her, Male pissing contest between Dick and Oliver, Shenanagians, all the puns and dick jokes, arrow season 2, but we are not there yet, canon-divergent, dickbabs, fun stuff, olicity - Freeform, should now be titled The Detective, so hold on folks cos we are in it now, this is a two parter, well dick to Oliver and has some fun with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-01 02:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20250814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muslimsmoak/pseuds/muslimsmoak
Summary: An Arrow s2ep08 rewrite where instead Bludhaven detective Dick Grayson shows up to help on a case with mysterious elements in Starling City. And while he's here, he wreaks some havoc for our trio, mainly Oliver in general. Dick's characterization is a mixture of current Young Justice Dick and dickbabs' relationship in there and some mixing in with what I know from Nightwing comics and small headcanons. Anyways, this was real fun and a challenge to write and I hope you all enjoy.





	sometimes life slips in through a back door

**Author's Note:**

> So basic dickbabs information for the ones who dont' know. Barbara Gordon is Oracle here and she and Dick are together, like they are in Young Justice currently. Dick is a detective for the Bludhaven police department because it provides an easy way in to introduce him and have him here in this Arrow timeline. (Maybe he is detective in YJ too, we don't know his day job right now but thank goodness he's okay right now.) If you would like to see my fancasts for Dickbabs and some dickbabs social media au snippets, check out my dickbabs side blog babswonder
> 
> Also, major shoutout to Danielle (smoakandbabs) I am now officially a Dickbabs warrior. And many thanks to my ever patient friends for putting up with me and "sneak peeks."

Things were turning up for Felicity today. The pep in her step she acquired earlier this morning as she sauntered into Queen Consolidated in one of her favorite dresses, a simple red skater dress with a triangle cutout that blurred the lines of workplace appropriate attire was soon diminished once reaching her workstation. After getting tongue-tied conversing with her friend slash partner in vigilantism slash boss’s mother and followed by a reprimanding by the co-CEO for whatever deed Felicity had completed that did not measure up to Isabel’s standards, her confidence was slightly shaken but not enough to deter her from making the most of it and making her way through her work tasks. 

She was currently preoccupied running a simple diagnostic check on her computers, triple-checking, and quadruple-checking everything was up to date when she heard the elevator ring. John marched up to Oliver’s office, shooting Felicity a look, a look that communicated to her, “ _ Arrow business”. _

She nipped behind him. Hopefully, this would be the reprieve in her morning. John stopped shortly after passing through Oliver’s doors, ‘’There’s been a break-in.” 

Oliver nodded, unspoken communication being his normal and straightened up his suit jacket, shaking off the reprimanding from Isabel about bringing his just-acquitted mother back to the company he was working to save. But now there was no time to dwell on her words as more urgent matters were brought to his attention.

\----------

Dick was startled awake as his head moved forward, leaving its spot from his hand where it had been holding him as he slept. The humdrum motions of the train had lulled him to sleep long ago but propping himself up was no way to catch those not-so-healthy three to four hours of sleep he was used to. He shook his head, trying to wake up fully and regain his senses. He stretched his arms out and surveyed his cabin and the windows. A yawn broke out as he examined the watch on his wrist, indicating he still had a few more hours before reaching his destination. 

He pulled his laptop out from the seat next to him and opened the secure link. 

**NW: ETA 0900**

**O: Remember, just a simple recon. **

**NW: I know the mission**

**NW: Wish you were here with me :(**

**O: ….**

Dick chuckled, knowing Barbara was on the other end laughing at his message. He couldn’t help it. He made her sappy. He loves her. After being friends for so long, trusting each other with their secret identity, having each other’s backs out there in the field and eventually starting a relationship, she had made him happy. But she loved it. 

The laptop beeped with a new message. 

**O: You’re such a sap**

**NW: You love it**

**O: Do I?**

**NW: :((**

**O: Just kidding**

**O: Report back after recon**

**O: Oracle out**

He shut the laptop and made a mental note to call Babs when he checked into his hotel. Just a simple recon mission, he thought. Nothing simple about reported cases where warehouses and company vaults being robbed by men who could lift five maybe ten times their weight.

When Bruce asked him to make an appearance as Bludhaven Detective Dick Grayson, he begrudgingly agreed, after all, no one says no to Batman. He didn’t like to be away from Bludhaven too long, and Babs, he didn’t want to be away from her. They were doing their best to make their relationship work for them, with Dick being Nightwing protecting Bludhaven and working for their police department, and Babs and her role as Oracle and her job at the Gotham Library. But they found moments to be together and made sure they took the time to be together and found a good rhythm. 

Starling City certainly wasn’t Gotham nor Bludhaven by any means but it had its charm… and its resident vigilante, a trait all three cities shared. Bruce had already given him the details on the Green Arrow, the basic rundown, weapons and fighting style, and possible partners. Bruce knew the Green Arrow had to have partners, if not a partner. At least one was established to be out on the field with the emerald archer, that they knew of. It was left to Dick to investigate and assess the Arrow and his possible team. Batman leaves no stone unturned. 

Seeing that there were still a few hours left in his journey, Dick raised his arms behind his head and leaned back in his seat. A few more hours rest before the work began for him.

\----------

Dig, straightened himself and placed his hands in his pockets after his crouching examination, “This door was made of expanded reinforced titanium. What did they use to do this?”

Officer Lance circled him, Felicity following behind. “Not sure yet. No sign of any explosives.” 

He walked around the crime scene, “Maybe a crane. Maybe a forklift. We’re guessing there was at least three of them, maybe four.”

Oliver stood up and followed behind Felicity and John, trailing behind Officer Lance. 

“Given how quick they got in and out, they were fast.” Lance took a deep breath and continued forward into the warehouse, leading the trio.

“Any idea what these guys were so hot to break in for?” Quentin asked as he stopped walking.

“Didn’t happen to leave a spare earthquake machine lying around, did you?” Oliver turned and glared at him with his insinuation. “Sorry,” apologizing for the insensitive comment given the timing. 

As the four examined the expanse of the warehouse, a CSI Tech with a tablet in his hands interrupted their gazing, “This is what we were able to pull off the uh, security cameras.” He rewound the footage and shared with Oliver, Felicity, John, and Quentin. 

“The only guy we got on video,” he tucked his tablet back in. “The rest of the crew must’ve come in after him,” he shrugged.

“Actually, it was only one guy,” an unfamiliar voice echoed amongst the warehouse, causing everyone to turn at his supposed statement. 

“Sorry, I’m late. No need to get traught,” Dick smirked as he started making his way up to the group, his tablet in hand. 

“Who the hell are you?” Lance exclaimed. 

“I’m sorry, get what?” Oliver asked in confusion at the stranger’s statement. 

Dick pulled out his badge to share with the group, “Detective Grayson. Bludhaven PD. The ‘Haven’s got a pretty interesting case with some similar elements to it and the captains are old friends and let me come out west to aid and assist… in any way I can.” His eyes moved amongst the group, searching for their reactions, looks of confusion and apprehension amongst the men. As his eyes made his way over the blonde, he gave a small smile. There was something about the way a certain three in the group reacted, something guarded, something familiar but he couldn’t quite place it. And the way one of them stood by the blonde, almost protective but still guarded. That, now that was all too familiar. 

Lance broke him out of his gaze, “So, you think one guy ripped through all of this-” he crushed his hand, “Like it was tin foil?” 

Dick nodded, “One very strong guy.” The man on the officer’s right seemed relatively unperturbed by the entire crime. Suspicious behavior. 

He pulled the tablet up to show the group. The man on the officer’s left moved closer to see the photo. “It takes about 1250 ft torque to break someone’s neck.” 

He gestured to the neck on the deceased security guard, “The marks on the guard’s neck? The bruising pattern suggests the killer only used one hand.” 

Dick noticed a change in eye movement from the man on the officer’s right, almost like a sense of recognition. “Don’t know how difficult it can be to break someone’s neck, huh?”

He straightened his head, “No, not at all.” Something about his remark made Dick think he was lying but he shrugged it off… for now. 

The CSI Tech then spoke up, “Uh, we’re gonna need a list of the entire inventory here to figure out what was stolen, Mr. Queen.” Oliver turned to face him. Ahh, that’s why Dick’s senses were going off at this guy. The infamous Oliver Queen. Your standard playboy billionaire, much like someone else he knew. The years away on that island certainly changed him, Dick barely remembering the pages of tabloids of him he had seen during his youth. His demeanor was nothing like how normal playboy billionaires held themselves, no Oliver was more guarded, more closed, his stance a direct insight to his mind. Something Dick was all too familiar with. 

He shook his head, “No need. I already know what was stolen.” Oliver turned back to face Dick. 

“Centrifuge,” he shrugged as the answer was seemingly obvious. “Industrial centrifuge. More specifically the Kord Industries 2BX-900 model. 

He started pacing to the back of the warehouse, the group following behind, “Uhh, maybe the six series.” 

He shrugged his shoulders, “I’m a little off my game.” That earned him a few reactions, an eye roll from both Oliver and Officer Lance now that he had gotten a closer look at his uniform, the still-unnamed gentleman gave a small smile, and the blonde chuckled quietly amongst the group. 

“Both of them have a 3-column base.” He pointed to the crime scene tape lined along the floor of the warehouse, “Here, you can see the three sets of broken bolts where the thief just ripped it out of the ground.” 

“What exactly is a centrifuge?” Officer Lance asked. 

The blonde spoke up, “It separates liquids.” 

She turned to Lance, “The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances to separate along the radial direction-” 

“And the lighter objects move to the top. Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Dick added. 

She smiled, “Yes, what did you say your name was again?” 

Dick returned her smile, “Richard Grayson. But you can call me Dick.” He could feel the glare from Oliver as he formally introduced himself. 

“Felicity. Smoak.” 

“Nice to meet you, Felicity.” Oliver exasperated from the exchange, started crouching to further examine the scene. 

“Anyways, here you can see the cracks heading towards the door. Footsteps. One guy.” He raised his hands to just below his shoulders, “Just one theory.” 

Lance stepped aside from the group, shot Felicity a glance and she trailed behind. Dick separated from the group himself as well to give Oracle an update. 

Not too far away, Lance and Felicity were sharing a private conversation. 

“I think you might wanna let our mutual friend in on this.” 

“Believe me, I think he already knows. 

\----------

Oliver, John, and Felicity had soon returned to their office, their mind still on the investigation, some on the investigation itself, but one’s mind was occupied with something else as Oliver stood staring out his office window. The entire case was plaguing Oliver’s mind, the details of the case, the strength of this one man, the perpetrator, something was all too familiar about. From his time on the island. But he didn’t let himself think too much on it. It couldn’t be. It can’t be. 

“Oliver,” Oliver turned to the voice of his friend and bodyguard. “Got the final inventory from Applied Sciences.”

Oliver glanced through the files, “The detective was right. The only thing missing is a centrifuge.” 

At that moment, Felicity shuffled into the office, “You have to see this. I pulled up CC traffic camera footage from across the street of applied sciences.” She pushed her tablet to show the two gentlemen. 

“This is three minutes after the alarm went off,” Oliver examined the footage, seeing the sheer strength of the thief. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted some movement out of his office. 

“Can we help you with something, Detective?” Oliver asked. Detective Grayson was here, in his building, outside his office and he had no idea why and no idea why he had such a big smile on his face. 

“Yes, Felicity, Dick pointed to his friend and executive assistant,” She said you preferred to keep the investigation in-house, so I cleared it with the captains to give you a hand.” 

“Felicity,” Oliver asked, somewhat in confusion as he hadn’t been consulted on this decision. 

“Yes, Felicity. Your assistant. Unless you know another beautiful bespectacled blonde named Felicity.” Oliver saw Dick flash a smile especially for her and saw that Felicity blush and chuckle at his statement. 

“Where should I set up?” Dick asked. 

Felicity answered, “I’ll show you.” Oliver nudged her by touching her elbow and pulled her aside for a private conversation. 

Oliver cleared his throat, “Ahem,” but his voice faltered, “What are you doing?” 

“We need to find this intruder. And he seems to know more about it than any of us.” She looked back and smiled at him, “I say we need him… wouldn’t you?”

Oliver begrudgingly agreed, “Mhmm” She had no idea the things he had seen on the island, and the possibility of this case being familiar left a bad feeling in his stomach. 

She sauntered over to Dick, “Come on, I’ll show you around.” Oliver watched her walk away and with him out of their office and turned back to ponder by his office window. 

John, still here had been watching Oliver’s reactions very carefully. Something was off. “Why am I getting the feeling that you know more about this than Felicity’s new friend?” 

Oliver sighed, “Just pray that I’m wrong.”

\----------

After Felicity had shown Dick around the QC offices, he asked Felicity if she wanted to head to the warehouse with him for further investigation. She happily agreed, stating it was a much better way to spend her lunch hour. So now here, they were, Felicity with two laptops open on a workstation and Dick examining where the centrifuge was stored. 

Being taken in and mentored by the world’s greatest detective and having the smartest person he knew as his girlfriend, Dick had picked up a thing or two in the forensics field. However, he did learn better when Barbara was teaching him instead of Bruce. Even the mere thought of his girlfriend brought a smile to his face even as he was crouched on the ground, examining the specks of dirt left behind at the crime scene. 

Remembering an old case of theirs, he grabbed the pair of tweezers from his pocket and carefully extracted the dirt. As he examined it in the light, Felicity crouched from her standing position by the table, “What are you looking for?”

“Dirt,” he replied. 

“Dirt,” she stated. 

Dick explained, “Your thief’s shoes touched the ground which means he’s placed dozens of clues as to where he’s been the past few days.” He carefully got up off the ground and maneuvered himself around the table to the machine nestled near Felicity’s laptops. The GPR (ground-penetrating radar) would detect anomalies in the soil, hopefully giving them an idea on where to find their perpetrator. Felicity stood to his side watching him place the specimen inside the machine. 

“Shouldn’t be too long now,” Dick dusted his hands off, hopefully ridding himself of any remaining dirt. Felicity smiled at him but her eyes were inquisitive. He suspected she knew something, maybe something about him. 

“So…” she started.

“So…” he replied, unsure what Felicity was going to bring up. He doubted she knew his masked identity and he knew above all that he had to protect Bruce’s.

“Ward of Bruce Wayne, huh?” she laughed. 

Dick let out a breath of relief. Although he had hoped Felicity hadn’t found out his secret identity, he knew for sure she was smart enough to put two and two together. “So you know?” he replied. 

“Yep, did a little searching back at the office. So what was that like?” 

“I would say pretty much the same as you being girlfriend to Oliver Queen,” he remarked. 

Felicity pursed her lips, “Oh, we’re not… Oliver and I aren’t… He’s….” 

Dick apologized, “Oh, I had assumed with-”

“Me being his assistant?” Felicity’s face deflated as she finished Dick’s assumption for him. 

Dick noticed Felicity’s change in demeanor and it confirmed his suspicions.”No, I assumed with the way you two look at each other and how you act, you two were together.”

“Oh,” she replied. 

“Yeah, oh.” 

“So you two really aren’t together?” 

“Nope.”

He continued, “Even with the way he was glaring at me since I’ve shown up, I thought he was in jealous boyfriend mode or something.” 

“He’s just….” Felicity tried to find the words, “Grumpy.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” 

“Wow,” Dick crossed his arms, “He’s an idiot.” 

Felicity smiled at his words. Dick Grayson had only been in Starling City one day and he had already caught on to what everyone knew. 

“You know, you two remind me of Babs and me.” 

“As in Barbara Gordon?” she asked.

“W-o-w, someone did their research,” Dick remarked. 

Felicity grinned wide, “Couldn’t help myself. I like to be thorough.”

“Thorough indeed,” Dick smiled. “Anyways, Barbara and I have known each other for a long time now, we’ve been through so much and it took us a while to find our way to each other. Hopefully, you and Oliver don’t take as long as we did.”

Felicity didn’t say anything but Dick knew. “Until then, I’m gonna have some fun with this,” he snickered.

“What?” Felicity asked. 

“He’s unattached, you’re unattached and he doesn’t know that I’m attached,” Dick explained. “I’m sure it won’t hurt him if I say, turned my charm up to an eleven.” 

“And what was it at before?” Felicity inquired. 

“Seven, seven and a half, maybe.”

She patted his head, “I’m sure it was,” she joked. 

“Oh, you’re funny,” Dick said pointing his finger at Felicity. 

“Need I remind you I have a girlfriend,” he placed his hand on his chest, “So you know I bring results.” 

Felicity didn’t say anything, but she bit her lips together, holding back a remark. “You’re a real comedian, Felicity Smoak.” 

They both laughed, “Now tell me more about you and Barbara. She seems lovely.”

Dick smiled, “Yeah, you’d love her. You remind me of her in a lot of ways.” 

“Do I now?” Felicity asked. 

“Don’t go getting a big head on me,” Dick remarked. 

As they kept waiting for the results on the dirt specimen, Dick and Felicity had talked about several things, Barbara and her accomplishment with Dick grinning the entire time, life in Gotham under Bruce Wayne, and Starling City and its local spots. Felicity saw how Dick’s eyes lit up talking about Barbara. She could easily see how gone for her he was. By the end of her lunch hour, the two were practically best friends. 

\----------

Since Oliver had trusted John Diggle with his green secret, he had been privy to seeing Oliver in ways that most people never had. But during the short time as his bodyguard and his friend, he had never seen him so… antsy and brimming with jealousy. Sure, he knew more about this robbery case than he was letting on, but the appearance of this Bludhaven detective had him acting in ways he hadn’t seen before. 

It had been well past Felicity’s lunch hour and she still hadn’t returned, one would assume she was preoccupied at the warehouse with detective Dick Grayson. To any outsider, it would look like the CEO was just concerned that his executive assistant hadn’t returned to work to complete her daily tasks. Both he and Oliver knew Felicity was more than capable of completing her work, so then why was Oliver sitting at his desk, rubbing his fingers together almost incessantly? 

John sat on one of the couches in Oliver’s office, finishing up his Big Belly Burger, Oliver’s still untouched as well as Felicity’s. He was just crumpling up his burger wrapper as Oliver spoke.

“Maybe we should go check on Felicity and see how she’s doing,” he said. 

“On the case,” he added. 

John nodded, buttoned up his suit jacket and stood up, “I’ll go bring the car around.” He grabbed his trash to dispose of and grabbed Felicity’s lunch, no matter what she was up to, he was sure she still hadn’t eaten. 

After a short ride to the Applied Sciences warehouse, John watched as Oliver practically leaped out of the car, following shortly behind him with Felicity’s lunch in hand. 

As they walked further into the warehouse, they spotted Felicity and Dick, both of them in bouts of laughter and Felicity holding onto Dick’s arm to hold herself up. John formed a small smile. As much as the two idiots he called friends needed to get their heads out of their asses, John enjoyed seeing Felicity like this. His friend deserved to be happy. 

Oliver cleared his throat to grab their attention as they approached closer, “Find something?”

The two stopped laughing and shared an unspoken look, deciding who would respond. Felicity walked around the workstation to address them. “We found something.”

“There were traces of sucrose and a speck of dirt the killer dragged in here on his boot,” Dick added. 

She turned to look at Dick, that was her piece to say she tried to communicate. Dick joking held his hands up in surrender and she rolled her eyes at him, a laugh trying to escape. John observed Oliver watching the two of them interact, seeing how close they had gotten in such short hours.

“Anyways, that got me thinking,” she continued. “There’s a sugar refinery two miles from here. The land around it is suffused in waste sugar. So I checked. Their delivery truck was stolen a few days ago.”

“Their truck matches the make and model of the truck the thief used to steal the centrifuge.”

“Can you track the vehicle?” Oliver asked. 

Felicity answered, “We’ve been trying. No such luck.” 

Oliver sighed and was interrupted by a beep on one of the laptops. Felicity rushed to it. “What was that?”

“You’re not gonna believe this. The truck. It was just used to rob a blood bank,” she stated. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, our guy made off with 30,000 ccs of O-negative,” she added. 

“Wait, super strength likes blood?” John asked in confusion. The more they learned about this case, the more unbelievable the elements of it were. 

“Please don’t tell me we suddenly believe in vampires,” he remarked looking at his two friends. 

“Uh, maybe we should hand this information over to the local police. I can coordinate with Starling City PD,” Dick said offering up his services. 

Oliver immediately answered, “No need. I’ll take care of it. Didn’t you say that you were working a similar case in Bludhaven?

John noticed that Dick looked nervous at that moment. Flustered, he answered Oliver, “Ph, yeah, um yeah, you know, it’s similar.” 

Oliver gave a skeptic nod to Dig. “Has similar elements. Lots of similarities,” he added. 

“Right.” Oliver pulled John aside and spoke softly, making sure the two didn't listen in on them. 

“I need you to look into this Grayson guy. There’s more to him than he’s letting on. 

John crossed his arms still holding the Big Belly bag, “His intentions seem pretty clear to me.” He smiled and turned to face Felicity and Dick, engrossed in conversation standing close to each other, their shoulders just grazing each other. 

John saw Oliver’s fingers rubbing together in motion, “Just do it please,” he gritted. 

John sighed, “Oliver, when are you going to tell me what exactly we’re up against?”

Oliver walked away, his exit telling John he wasn’t going to get anything out of him.  _ That man and his secrets _ , he thought. 

He walked up to Felicity and Dick and placed her lunch on the workstation. “Thought you’d be hungry. Brought you your favorite,” he stated. 

“Ugh, you are a god among men, John Diggle. I’m starving.” She thanked her friend. 

He turned and looked over to Dick, “Don’t think we’ve officially met. John Diggle.” John placed his hand out to shake Dick’s. 

Dick returned his handshake, “Dick Grayson.” 

John crossed his arms again, “So how long have you been a detective?”

“A couple of years now. Still a rookie though in my partner’s eyes,” he stated. 

“John,” Felicity interrupted. 

“Could I talk to you for a minute?” she asked. John nodded and followed her as they walked away from the workstation and Dick.

She turned to face him, “What are you doing?”

“Just trying to figure him out. See if we can trust him,” John answered. As much as Oliver did put him up to this task, he still wanted to more about this detective and whether or not he could be trusted.

“Hmmm… sure. Did Oliver put you up to this?” she inquired. 

John surrendered, “He did, but that’s not why I’m doing this, Felicity. We need to be sure we can trust this guy. Not say too much around him,” she picked up on his words.

She whispered, “I haven’t even mentioned our green secret.” 

“You know me, John,” she added. 

“Just trying to keep you safe.” 

“And I love you for it, but I can keep myself safe.” 

“I know you can. But it can’t hurt to check up on my friend,” he remarked. 

“Besides, Dick has a girlfriend. He’s just…” Felicity wondered how to best explain to her friend, “He’s just helping me out.”

“Wait, go back.” John interrupted. “He’s with someone?” 

“Yep.” 

“But you two looked…”

“Yep.”

“And Oliver…”

“Yep.”

Suddenly, things clicked for John, “Oh I like this guy.” Felicity laughed at his realization and John joined in. 

“Besides,” Felicity spoke louder, “We were just talking about Barbara, weren’t we, Dick?”

Dick raised his head at the sound of both his and Barbara’s name. As John and Felicity had been talking, he had helped himself to some of Felicity’s french fries. 

“In fact,” she added, “Dick was just about to show me some pictures of him and Barbara.” She walked on over to him, John following her. 

“Ahem, I believe those were my fries,” she remarked. 

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” Dick said smiling and putting on the charm, hoping she would forgive him, Felicity laughed. 

He dusted his hands and pulled out his phone. He leaned against the table as he scrolled through his album, trying to find something to show the two. 

“So, here’s me and Babs at the last Wayne gala. Even after living with Bruce for so long, I still hate those things.” 

The photo he showed the two was of him and Barbara, him sitting down, her in her wheelchair. It was a candid Tim had snapped of them. Dick had loved the photo and made his brother send it to him. They had been well into the events of gala and Dick had grown tired of playing his part so he grabbed a chair and sat down, his bow tie unkempt. Barbara had soon joined him and the two just took comfort in each other’s presence. Tim had snapped the photo right as Barbara was fixing up his bowtie and you could see it clearly on Dick’s face how enamored with her he was. 

Felicity’s voice drew Dick out of his thoughts, “You two are cute.”

Dick smiled, “Thanks. My brother Tim took the photo.” 

“Who’s Tim?” John asked. 

“Brother. Bruce, he’s sorta got a thing for adopting strays,” he answered. 

“Here,” he scrolled through his photos.

“This is all of us,” he showed flipping through the many photos.

“Jason. Tim. Damian. Stephanie. Cass.” 

“Wow, that’s a pretty big family,” Felicity remarked. 

“Yeah, it gets crazy at times. But we’re there for each other,” he stated.”

“Sounds lovely,” Felicity said as Dick continued swiping through photos, John saw a glimpse of a photo he couldn’t make out, all he saw a blue symbol, maybe a bluebird. He saw Dick quicky swipe through the photos and close his phone, putting it back in his pocket. 

“Sorry, uh, private photos,” he explained. 

Felicity reacted to the implication of his words, “Oh.”

Dick chuckled, “Uh, yeah.” 

The three sat in awkward silence, waiting for a brave soul to speak up. John cleared his throat, “Well, I should be heading back to the office.” 

He looked to Felicity, “You coming back with me?”

“Sure, lemme grab my stuff. I know I’m behind on my paperwork,” Felicity answered. 

“Aww, you’re leaving me all alone? Whatever shall I do now?” Dick joked. 

Felicity rolled her eyes, “Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something.” 

“You’re fine. I should head back to my hotel. Babs is expecting a call from me,” Dick replied.

“All right. I will keep you posted on the case,” Felicity grabbing the coat she had left on one the stools. 

John had followed Felicity to the stool. “Well, detective. Pleasure meeting you.” 

“You too, Mr. Diggle,” Dick replied. 

“Please, call me John,” he added smiling at the young man.” 

Dick looks surprised, “Oh, nice meeting you, John.” 

John turned and saw Felicity smiling, “He’s growing on me.”

“John Diggle, you softie,” she remarked. 

“Don’t tell Oliver,” he joked. Felicity’s laughter carried around the warehouse as they left. 

Dick, still in the warehouse took a glance at one of Felicity’s laptops, still open and saw the plates of the stolen truck. After a quick scan, he soon left the warehouse.

\----------

After leaving the warehouse earlier, Dick had retired to his hotel room until night fell. Then, he changed from his day suit to his night suit…. Instead of packing his Nightwing suit, he packed his stealth suit. Bruce had stressed the importance of keeping it all under the radar, and Nightwing couldn’t be spotted in Starling City the same day Detective Grayson showed up. Surely, someone would pick up on the coincidence and soon put two and two together. 

His stealth suit was all black with the signature Nightwing blue color outlining the suit. He placed his mask on and carefully put in his contact lenses. They weren’t just ordinary contact lenses. Dick had perfect vision, bless his soul, but these lenses were special products, courtesy of his girlfriend Oracle. They were his connection to him, how she helped him while he was out in the field. She wasn’t just the eyes and ears, she was every database they could access, every satellite they could get a hold of, and more. In a word, she was everything.  _ In more ways than one _ , Dick thought. 

He blinked a few times and tested the voice-to-text functions. 

“Oracle, do you copy?” he asked. His voice was immediately being converted into text and was sent to Babs through a secure link. 

“Loud and clear, Nightwing,” she replied. 

“How’s Starling City?”

“A little rainy, but not too bad,” he said walking up to his suitcase perched on the hotel bed. 

“Made a few friends,” he added. 

“Awww, on his first day?”

He rolled his eyes at her teasing. “Actually, babe, you’d really like one of them. You’d get along great.”

“Oh, really now?” 

“Yeah, blonde, crazy smart. You’d love her. In fact, I’m afraid to introduce you two so you don’t leave me for her, babe,” he said closing his suitcase. 

Barbara’s laughter broke his focus on closing the suitcase. “Enough chit-chat, boy wonder. We’ve got a mission.”

He started doing some stretches, “It’s just a simple recon, Babs. I got this.”

“We know how well those go.”

“Shouldn’t you be helping someone else out on patrol tonight instead of bullying me?” he jokingly asked. 

“Message received, Nightwing. You know how to reach me. Oracle out.” 

“Copy that,” Dick finished his stretches and headed for his hotel room window. After a quick crawl and jump up the fire escape to the roof, he took a moment to take in the view. Starling City wasn’t Gotham or Bludhaven, but it was beautiful in its own way. After a quick scan of the city, he headed out in the direction of the truck. Oracle had given him the last location of the truck from the city’s streetlight cameras. And a warning not to engage with Starling’s local vigilante, the Arrow. He remembered Bruce briefing him on his findings of the emerald archer.

_ “The Arrow’s affinity for green gear suggests training in a forest or jungle environment. Police reports state that the archer has switched over carbon arrows, instead of an aluminum carbon substitute which would allow for better penetration in his range. Something changed his code last year to lower his body count. He probably has partners, at least one out in the field has been spotted alongside him and someone on the computers. Find and assess the threat.”  _

The three at Queen Consolidated, Oliver Queen, John Diggle, and Felicity Smoak, were prime suspects. Queen had already been accused of being the vigilante last year and cleared of it, but Dick knew a thing or two about staging. John Diggle definitely matched the description of the Arrow’s field companion. After a day of hanging out with Felicity Smoak, she knew her way around technology and given that she was saved by the Arrow recently and police reports of Detective Lance questioning her on her “activities” last year, things were certainly adding up. Bringing himself out of these thoughts, he started running and jumped off the roof, ready to find that truck and figure out what’s going on in this city. 

Following Oracle’s instructions, he was closing in on the truck’s location. Perched on a rooftop, he saw the truck making its way on the road. He soon heard the rushing of a motorbike as he turned his head and saw the Arrow, tailing the truck. 

Dick smiled,  _ This should be fun, _ he thought. A first-hand look at the Arrow and his work. He kept his eyes on the bike and watch the Arrow as they sped up to the truck. He watched as the archer busted the truck’s side mirror, distracting the driver as he went around to the driver side and kicked through the door. The Arrow knocked a few punches in until Dick saw him get pushed back and tried to save himself as he landed on the front windshield, obscuring the driver’s view. 

Dick saw the driver shatter the windshield and pull the archer in. He tried to focus on as the truck drove further and further away from his view. He moved closer to examine the situation. As he landed on another rooftop, he watched the Arrow get knocked through the window and fall next to a nearby dumpster.  _ The smell is gonna be hard to wash off,  _ he thought. 

He stood there and contemplated whether or not to break and check on the Arrow, but he saw the archer get up. Dick knew he had to get out before he was spotted and his cover blown. He would at least update Oracle and Batman on his findings. It wasn’t too late out so maybe he could still video chat Barbara in between her helping out on patrols. He took one last look at the Arrow and headed back to his hotel room. 

\----------

“I’m sorry, John, but minus the obvious fake news from gossip magazines, there’s nothing suspicious about Dick Grayson,” Felicity stated. 

John having been tasked with looking into Dick Grayson, had been caught by Felicity while doing his searching while Oliver was out on the streets and intervened. 

“I know, Felicity. But Oliver asked me to look into him and I need to put in some work for him,” John explained. Although he had met the boy and found him amicable, he should at least do his due diligence, if only to qualm Oliver’s jealousy. 

Felicity’s phone went off and she stood to check her notification. As she walked over to her phone, the two heard the bunker door unlock and the clattering on the stairs, most likely Oliver making his way down after his patrol.

“Who’s that?” John asked. 

“Oh, it’s just Dick texting me. He sent an article on a recent initiative Wayne Industries took,” Felicity explained. 

John crossed his arms, knowing Oliver was coming down and could most likely hear them, “Oh, so you’re texting buddies now, are you?” 

“Maybe,” she joked. Oliver had reached the bottom of the stairs and walked up to the two of them. 

John acknowledged him with a nod and gave Felicity a look, trying to communicate,  _ You think he heard that? _

Felicity, noticing the scowl on Oliver’s face as he stood before them, smirked at John,  _ He definitely noticed.  _ At least she thought, he did. There could be a multitude of reasons for why Oliver was scowling at this particular moment. 

Oliver cleared his throat to gain their attention, “Felicity, could you grab the medkit for me?”

“Say please,” she teased. 

“Please,” he gritted through his teeth. Sensing his tone, Felicity rushed to grab the medical supplies as Oliver rid himself of his suit jacket and his undershirt so she could examine the wounds and sat on the stool just in front of her workstation. He grabbed an old hoodie of his, barely pushed it past his arms, too tired to fully wear the article of clothing, waiting for Felicity to attend to him.

After a quick disinfectant, Felicity applied medical tape to his ribs, meticulously working not to add an annoyance by ripping the tape off. Lightly pulling off the tape, Oliver shouted out in pain, “OW!”

“Sorry,” she winced realizing she inflicted the pain...maybe. She readjusted her methods. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. She finished her tasks and stepped back as John moved closer to the two. 

Oliver then pushed the hoodie over his shoulders and looked to John, “You were right to ask if I knew more than I was letting on. I’ve seen men with abilities like that before.”

Felicity’s eyes narrowed, “You have?” 

Oliver took a deep breath, parts of his mind screaming not to tell them but fighting with the need to tell his team what exactly the threat is they’re up against.

“Where?” Felicity asked as she crossed her arms inquisitively. 

Fighting through the anguish, he answered her, “The island.” Though John and Felicity had suspected his answer, they knew not to push on the issue and let Oliver tell them when he would. 

Oliver continued on, “My second year marooned there, we… “ John and Felicity both glanced at each other on Oliver’s use of we.

“I… came across the remains of a Japanese World War II military project. It was a serum designed to create human weapons.”

John interjected, “Human weapons, my God what’s next, aliens?”

Oliver’s forehead furrowed at John’s teasing, “This is real, Diggle.”

“Those five years that I was away, I came across things that just…” trying to find the best words to encompass those five years in the vaguest way possible, “ _ defy _ explanation.”

“There’s a doctor, his name is Ivo. And he came to the island…” Oliver paused, trying to work through the internal argument to reveal part of his traumatized past to his partners, “To test the serum on people.” 

He heard a gulp from Felicity, trying to swallow the information he had shared. “The ones that survived, their endurance, reflexes, and strength were all enhanced,” he continued. 

“And you think this Ivo’s in Starling City?” John asked. 

“He’s dead,” Oliver stated. “And so is everyone that he injected with the serum. The last of which I burned. 

“You think someone found the recipe?” 

“The centrifuge and a large supply of blood. I think someone wants to make more of it.”

John let out a deep sigh and took a seat in the stool across from Oliver, imagining all the possibilities of world-ending scenarios this so-called super strength serum could bring. 

“Why couldn’t you have marooned on Aruba?” Felicity asked, half-joking and half-serious. If only that were the case. 

Oliver turned to the table and picked up an arrow of his and turned back to face Felicity, “There’s a third component, a strong sedative.”

He placed the arrow in Felicity’s hands, Felicity examined the piece and slightly winced at the presence of blood embedded, “I think I preferred it when you left these in people.”

“I need you to analyze the blood on the arrowhead. If we can figure out which sedative they’re using-” explained Oliver. 

John finished, “We can figure out where the next robbery will be.” 

Felicity nodded at the two gentlemen, “Dick and I will get right on it.” She strutted towards the other side of the bunker and left the two with each other but not before giving John a wink, hopefully, unnoticed by Oliver.

“I think our Ms. Smoak is smitten,” teased John. Dick Grayson may be in a committed relationship, but one couldn’t deny that Felicity had found him affable, even if platonically. 

He glared at John’s joke, “I need you to look into something for me, there’s a new player out on the streets.”

“A new vigilante?” John asked. 

“Don’t know what side he’s on but we don’t need them getting in our way.”

“Did you see them?”

“Didn’t get much of a look, but I thought I spotted someone on the roofs when I was following the truck, just a black suit, and blue lining, no symbols or anything.”

“I’ll look into it.”

“What did you find out about Mr. Grayson?” 

“Interesting background, but no red flags. Nothing to report,” he added. 

“Are you sure?” 

“I’m sure, Oliver.” 

“What about his background, John? Wayne Industries? I heard you and Felicity talking about it before I came in ”

“We can trust him, Oliver” he added. “And that was just-” 

Oliver interrupted before John could clear things up, “There’s something about him, John,” John watched Oliver follow Felicity as she made her way around the bunker, smiling while working on her phone. “I don’t trust it.”

John shook his head and stood up before his friend, “Or maybe there’s something else that’s bothering you.” He left his friend with those words as he walked to Felicity to update her. Oliver sat there taking in his words, he knew what John meant. As soon as he stepped into her office with a broken laptop, there was just something about her. She spent all summer trying to find him and bring him back, all while trying to keep the company, his company afloat. And then last few months, he found himself having these little moments with her. 

And then Detective Dick Grayson came into town, all care-free and charming, he reminded Oliver a little bit of who he used to be, maybe who he could have been, who he could still be. And he saw Felicity and the way she was him, the way she smiled at him. Maybe he should let it be, let her be or maybe he was wrong about being with someone he could really care about. 

\----------

The next day, Felicity again spent her lunch at the warehouse, working on the investigation with Dick. Something was up with Dick today, Felicity noticed. When she had first arrived, he asked how Oliver was, he had seemed worried about his health. As if he knew more than he was letting on as if he had picked up on a certain green secret of theirs and it made her nervous. 

On top of his behavior, her mind kept creeping back in on this mysterious new player that she spotted on the city’s CCTVs last night while Oliver was tailing the truck. This mysterious new vigilante didn’t have any means of transportation given that all she saw on the footage was an astounding skillset in acrobatics and parkour that could’ve surpassed Oliver’s, but she wasn’t gonna tell anyone that, especially Oliver. But there was no time to dwell on that now, other matters required her attention right now. 

She placed the medical gloves on her hands as she updated Dick, “I managed to get a sample of the perpetrator’s blood from the police department. We need to isolate a sedative in the blood. It could lead us to the thief.”

Dick raised his eyebrows, “How did the police get it?”

“Apparently, the vigilante, uh, shot him with an arrow,” she replied. 

“I see.” What Felicity didn’t know was that Dick already knew the vigilante shot the thief as he went back to the scene from last night this morning and saw drops of blood around where the vigilante fell. And the way Felicity didn’t explain further how the police got ahold of it was confirming Dick’s suspicions. Both looked at each other as if they were waiting for the other to give in and say something.

Trying to break the silence, Felicity changed to a different topic of discussion “So, where do work functions fall into this ridiculous plan of yours?”

“Hey, it’s not ridiculous, it’s genius,” he quipped. 

“And what about work functions?” he added, still confused.

“Um, Oliver, he decided to throw a Christmas party, actually, well I hope it’s a holiday party, because you know Jewish heritage and all,” she gestured to herself, “But yeah, he’s throwing this extravagant party that his family used to do every year. And he gave me a plus-one.”

“Really, he gave you a plus one?” Dick asked. 

“Yep.”

“So this,” he gestured to the space between them, “Is this you asking me?”

“Yes,” she replied. 

He stretched his arm out to tousle his hair, “I don’t know, Smoak. I’m not really feeling it in you “ask,”” he added air quotes to emphasize his point. 

Felicity rolled her eyes, “You are a dick, Grayson,” she laughed realizing the unintentional joke she made. 

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” he smirked.

She threw her hands up in surrender, “Okay, I concede. Richard Grayson, will you be my plus-one to this holiday party?”

“Why, thank you. I would be honored,” he teased. 

“I’m a great dancer, by the way.”

“Great, that makes one of us.” 

“Don’t worry, my dear Felicity, you have me on your side,” he smiled. 

The two spent the rest of her lunch hour working on analyzing the blood sample and talking about the holiday party coming up and their holiday plans in general. As they reached the end of her time, Felicity had almost forgotten about this new vigilante on the streets… almost. 

\---------

Dick had accompanied Felicity on her trek back to the office, being the gentlemen that he was. The two had been engrossed in a conversation about Wayne Industries, currently under the helm of his younger adopted brother, Tim Drake. 

“CEO at seventeen years old? Really?” Felicity asked incredulously at the thought of a teenager in charge of a Fortune 500 company.

“Yeah, he’s a genius. Bruce couldn’t be prouder,” Dick replied. 

“You know, you should visit Gotham one day. I’d introduce you to Tim, you’d meet Barbara. I’m sure you’d love to pick their brains and talk nerd stuff,” he added. 

“Hey, I resent that last comment. I would love to meet them but I don’t know, the crime in Gotham, I’ve seen the crime stats.”

“Hey, that data is misleading,” he retorted, defending his city.

“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” a voice resembling Oliver’s shouted. Dick turned to face the elevators and saw Oliver strut up to him and Felicity.

“I’m sorry?” Dick asked all confused. 

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To spy on Queen Consolidated and report back your findings to Wayne Industries, isn’t that right, D-ic-k,” Oliver gritted, pushing through every syllable in Dick’s name. 

Dick stared at Oliver, searching his eyes, trying to figure him out. He saw Oliver take glimpses at Felicity as he stared Dick down.  _ Of course _ , he thought. Felicity, that’s what this was all about. Oliver was acting out of jealousy and trying to shake him down, with whatever he could think of. As far as accusations went, at least they didn’t figure out his masked secret. Still, he wouldn’t take this sitting down.

“ _ You _ leave my family out of this,” he scowled at Oliver, refusing to back down

“As long as you keep  _ my  _ company out of this,” he said with his eyebrows furrowed. 

Refusing to let this male pissing contest go on any longer, Felicity interjected, “Oliver! He’s not even a part of the company. He’s not a part of it.”

Oliver’s face still focused on Dick, “How do we know that, Felicity?”

“Dick is my friend, Oliver. He wouldn’t lie to me.”

“You’ve known him for two days, how friendly are you two exactly?” There it was, the reason for Oliver’s behavior, trying to assess exactly what was going on between Dick and Felicity.

Dick surrendered, “No, Felicity, it’s fine. You don’t have to do this for me. I know when I’m no longer wanted.”

He quickly faced Felicity, “Looks like you’ll have to find another plus one. I’ll take my leave now.” He walked off to the elevators, leaving Felicity and Oliver. 

She walked up to Oliver, “You had no right, Oliver.”

“We don’t know that, Felicity. He’s hiding something, I know it.”

She shut her eyes for a moment, trying to calm her anger, “You may not, but I do.” She stormed off to catch Dick on the elevators, hoping to apologize for Oliver’s behavior. 

Oliver stood in the hallway, his shoulders sinking as he took in how he had angered Felicity and the immediate regret he felt in doing this to her. Did he have any proof Dick was a corporate spy, no? But there was something about the guy, he just knew it. He needed something, anything, to avoid focusing on the real feelings that were lurking in on his mind, the feelings of jealousy he had seeing Dick and Felicity so close. He knew he had to make it up to Felicity, but right now he needed to play his part as CEO, but later, later he would try and make things right, no matter how much it hurt those lingering feelings he felt for her. 

\----------

Oliver bounced down the stairs in his tux, his sister and mother following behind. He needed to find Felicity and make amends with her. Begrudgingly, Oliver had called Dick and apologized to him and asked him to come to the holiday party, he insisted on it. Hopefully, he would show up and Felicity would forgive Oliver. He spotted Felicity at the bottom of the stairs, her hair had been straightened and she had it down in a half-up half-down style, her glasses had been replaced with contacts, and she was in a floor-length sleeveless pink dress that perfectly showed off her shoulders and her toned arms. 

As Oliver and his family reached the bottom of the stairs, Felicity turned and greeted Moira and Thea, “Good evening, Queens.”

Then addressing Oliver, “May I have a word?”

“Yeah,” he grazed his hand down her shoulder down to her elbow, a feather-light touch, to move them aside from his family. He knew he didn’t have to but something in him came alive and instinctively went in for the touch. 

He softened his voice, trying to keep their conversation private, “I’m sorry if I overreacted a little bit earlier. 

“Oh, you think?” she remarked, still upset. 

She took a deep breath, “But right now, you need to apologize to your mother, not me.”

Confused, he asked, “For what?”

“For being wrong,” she answered.

He turned to see his mother and sister at the entrance of their foyer and walked up to them. He scanned the room and saw what Felicity had meant. He had hoped to throwing a successful holiday party to bring a sense of normalcy in their lives but it seems that it had failed as only a few guests were scattered across the room. 

“I guess these days I only draw a crowd when I’m on trial for murder,” Moira joked trying to hide her reaction. 

“Mom, you don’t have to…” Thea pleaded, she knew her mother would put on a face and stand strong, but she wanted her to know she didn’t have, she would be on her side. 

“We have guests. However few of them are,” she said as she waltzed off to greet her guests and begin playing hostess for the night. 

Thea grabbed her brother’s arm. “This isn’t your fault, Ollie.” She walked off to greet her boyfriend Roy. 

Oliver didn’t move from the entrance, he stood there just watching the party, seeing his mom interact with the guests, watched his sister and her boyfriend talk to each other. Felicity accompanied him and stood by him. 

He felt her presence near him. Trying to extend an olive branch, he hesitantly asked, “Time for a dance?”

“Not really feeling like dancing with you, Oliver,” she quipped. 

“I know,” he turned to face the entrance of the mansion, “And that is why I called him.” 

Felicity turned to see what he was referring to and saw Dick walk up to the two of them, dressed in a suit of his she hadn’t seen before. He approached them.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Oliver said now leaving the two of them and joining the party himself. His feet lead him straight to the open bar. 

Dick spoke first, “So, uh, that was interesting. Oliver actually called me, apologized and insisted I come.”

“That’s certainly a first for him,” she said. 

He raised his hand out, “Would you care for a dance, Miss Smoak?” he asked adding a wink.

She giggled, “Why, Mr. Grayson, I would be honored.” She returned his hand and let him walk her to the middle of the room. 

They both laughed as Felicity stepped on his foot soon after starting, the two then just decided to hold hands and sway and talk. 

“So I don’t think this plan of yours is gonna work for much longer,” Felicity said trying to make conversation. 

“Oh, I beg to differ, my dear friend,” Dick disagreed. 

“Why do you think so?” Felicity asked.

“Oliver hasn’t taken his eyes off of us, well, you, since we started dancing,” Dick stated. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Dick teased her speechlessness. 

“Shut up,” she teasingly yelled at him. 

“So how much longer are you in town?” she asked. 

“Think I might be heading out tomorrow,” Dick answered. 

“Bludhaven PD needs you back that soon?”

“Hmm, uh, yeah, the captain wants me back,” Dick answering, hoping Felicity wouldn’ think too much on his answer. He forgot that Felicity didn’t know his real true intentions for visiting Starling City. Sure Bludhaven would need him back soon, but his priority was more set on reporting back to Bruce. He still didn’t have much to report, just suspicions, but nothing substantive to add. 

Before they could say anything else, Dick’s phone went off. They stopped swaying and he chucked his phone out of his pocket. 

“The blood sample. The analysis is done,” he stated. 

“We gotta head back to the warehouse,” Felicity added. 

“Think we need to tell the host we’re leaving so suddenly?” he asked, pointing to Oliver in the back of the room with his shoulder. 

Felicity thought on it and a smile crept out, “No, let him think what he wants.”

Dick laughed, “Looks like I’m rubbing off on you, Smoak.

“You wish,” Felicity remarked. “Let’s go,” she led them out of the room and out of the mansion.

After a quick drive to the warehouse, Dick and Felicity took a look at the computers for the results. 

“The sedative in the blood is Ketamine. It’s a schedule three controlled substance. Shouldn’t be too hard to track for the police,” Dick stated. 

“Uh, yeah, the police, I’ll make sure they get it,” Felicity replied. 

“You heading out?” she asked Dick. 

“Yeah, I should probably pack and call Barbara. Hopefully, she’s not busy right now,” Dick explained. 

“Well then,” she raised her hand out to shake his, “It was nice meeting you, Dick Grayson.”

“Oh, come on now, I think we’re in hug territory,” Dick said refusing her handshake and raising his arms out to engulf her into a hug. 

“If you’re ever in Gotham or Bludhaven, you’ve got a friend.”

Releasing him from the hug, Felicity replied, “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

Felicity grabbed the case holding Oliver’s arrow and stood before him again, “Goodbye, Dick Grayson.”

“Goodbye, Felicity Smoak.” 

\----------

Felicity had already called John and Oliver and told them to meet her in the bunker for an update. John was working on a monitor and Oliver just standing, leaning on a stool as she strutted in. Oliver hadn’t changed out of his tux, his bowtie gone and a few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and his suspenders were on full display but Felicity didn’t have time to fully appreciate it. 

“They found trace amounts of Ketamine in the thief's blood,” she stated getting straight to the point. 

She got to her workstation and set the case down before sitting down, “It’s common surgical anesthesia derived from Hydrochloric salt.”

John and Oliver came behind her as she briefed them, “Can you use that to track him?” Oliver asked. 

She got to work on her computers, “With the concentration ratio in the blood sample, there’s only one possible location with a large enough quantity of the sedative that correlates with the amount of blood the stolen centrifuge can process.” 

She pulled up an image on the screen before John, “What is it? There’s no sign” he stated. 

“ARGUS doesn’t like to advertise,” she explained. 

She continued, “It’s a disaster bunker. Right on the edge of the Glades.”

She turned in her chair to face Oliver, “ARGUS has them all over the country. They store relief supplies, food, clothing-”

“Medicine,” John assumed finishing her sentence. 

Oliver nodded, “I’m on my way.” He went over to his case and grabbed his bow, about to get ready and change into his suit. 

Felicity opened up the case and grabbed the arrow, approaching Oliver, “Oliver, I can’t believe I’m actually saying this.”

Oliver stopped his steps and walked up to her. She pointed to the arrow, “The way this arrowhead is bent… It means our thief’s muscle density is at least 120 pounds per cubic foot. That’s  _ almost  _ the same density as common concrete.”

“Your arrow may cut this guy but they will not stop him,” she explained. 

“Felicity, I’ve beat someone like this before,” Felicity nodded with him, sure of his capabilities, “I can do it again,” he added. 

“But what if you can’t?” she pleaded, her eyes glistening with worry for her friend. 

The computer beeped before Oliver could completely reassure Felicity’s concern for her safety.

“Oliver,” John urged his attention. The computer pulled up an image of a small arrowhead outside the club, Roy’s signal to the Arrow. Oliver sighed, just one more thing to take care of before heading out. 

\----------

Oliver had reached the ARGUS facility, rushing through aisles of medical supplies and clothing, trying to find the thief. Just as he was making his way through another aisle, a large crate was being thrown his way. He narrowly dodged the crate and immediately started shooting arrows above, trying to find the perpetrator. The thief jumped down from where he was perched, swinging his arms out to punch Oliver. Oliver lurched below, avoiding his fist and shoot another arrow of his, a specialty arrow that threw a rope and tied itself around the thief’s neck, pinning him to a concrete column. 

“Who are you?” Oliver shouted in his deep Arrow voice.

“Merely a follower,” the thief replied. 

“‘Of who?”

“My brother.”

“Did he give you the mirakuru? Did he inject you with it?” He asked continuing his interrogation.

“No,” the thief said as he escaped from the rope binding his neck, “He saved me with it.” He started running up to Oliver, Oliver threw two more arrows, this time to his feet, locking him down where he was standing.

Setting his arrows away, he came at the thief, getting as many hits in as he could. He knew the mirakuru couldn’t be beaten, but he needed to take as many chances as he could to wear him out. 

The thief pushed the arrows out of his feet easily and punched Oliver, knocking him down against a barrel. As Oliver struggled to get up after the beatdown, the thief already approached him and threw him up against the air vents and watched him fall. Before he could recover, the thief threw Oliver against the shelves of medical supplies. Seeing no struggle from the Arrow, the thief left him. 

As Oliver struggled to gain awareness of his surroundings, he saw two needles on his legs and soon passed out from the injections. 

John and Felicity, not having heard from Oliver in a quite a while, ran into the ARGUS facility themselves to see what was taking Oliver so long. 

“Oliver! Oliver!” They shouted, trying to figure out his location. John had his gun locked and ready, scanning the building with his eyes and gun, trying to find the Arrow. 

Felicity caught a glimpse of black boots and ran towards the cluttered mess of supplies, “OLIVER!” She shouted as she found him. 

She crouched down to him and searched his face, for injuries, for consciousness, for any sign of life. 

John ran up to them after making sure the building was secure, “Is he alive?”

“His pulse is weak but it’s there.” She gently moved his face trying to wake him up. 

“Hey, Oliver, can you hear me?” She examined his face closer, “His pupils are dilated. 

She turned and saw the needles embedded in his leg and grabbed them, scanning them for its contents. 

“What the hell was that?” John asked seeing the needles in her hand.

“I don’t know, it’s coded.” She rushed up to the nearest computer. The monitor screen had been shattered, no doubt from the fight. “Damn it!” she shouted. 

John walked up to her, “Look, I can’t break into the dispensary files. I have no idea what he was injected with… poisoned with. 

John grabbed his phone and started dialing, “We have no choice.”

“What are you doing?”

“Calling 911.” 

“Dig, wait,” she pleaded with her friend. 

“Can’t wait.”

“How are we supposed to explain this? Everyone’s gonna find out Oliver’s the vigilante.”

“Which won't’ matter if he’s dead,” John explained as he pulled the phone to his ear. 

“Felicity, we can’t save him,”

She mulled over their options, “I know you’re right… We can’t….” she turned to look at Oliver, “But I might know someone who can.” 

\-----------

Dick had finished packing up his bag in his hotel room, he hadn’t brought much to begin with anyways for his trip to Starling City. He was on the phone with Barbara going over his trip as he juggled his toiletry bag in another hand. 

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on his door, “Babe, I’m gonna have to call you back.” He rushed to his door and saw Felicity. She looked distressed, something was wrong. 

“I know you’re Nightwing. And right now, I need your help. I need your help to save my friend.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and/or a comment. Thank you for reading.


End file.
